The Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival in Durban continued to deliver great rugby on day two although matters weren’t as tightly contested as the first day’s action, with a few blowout results.
It was a particularly good day for KwaZulu-Natal, with all four schools bagging wins after an indifferent start to the festival.
DHS produced a riveting performance in their 31-10 defeat of Hoerskool Framesby, with flyhalf Deano Boesak standing out, thanks in large part to his excellent tactical kicking and quick feet.
Kearsney College rebounded from their disappointing defeat to Dale College on the first day by becoming the first team to beat Hoerskool Dr EG Jansen this season in a 17-12 result, while Westville Boys’ High inflicted a 14-9 loss on the touring England team Hartpury College.
Glenwood’s 19-7 victory over Dale kept alive their hopes of claiming three wins from three ahead of the final day.
In the other two results, Hoer Landbouskool Marlow breezed past Worcester Gimnasium 30-15 and Hoerskool Monument battered Hoerskool Noord-Kaap 50-5.
HOERSKOOL MONUMENT 50 – 5 HOERSKOOL NOORD-KAAP
Hoerskool Monument romped to a 50-5 victory over Hoerskool Noord-Kaap in the final game of day two.
Unforced errors interrupted the flow early on, with neither side able to build anything in the way of momentum or gain a real foothold in the contest. Ultimately though, the Krugersdorp side were far too strong, getting off the mark after Kelvin van Wyk was released down the left touchline.
DURBAN HIGH SCHOOL 31 – 10 HOERSKOOL FRAMESBY
A rampant DHS outfit put HoerskoolFramesby to the sword in a 31-10 win in the penultimate game of day two.
Although Framesby did enjoy long passages of possession, DHS were superb with and without the ball and claimed a comprehensive victory in the end.
The excellent Deano Boesak put DHS ahead early on from the kicking tee, before Bandile Zama and Dale Hendrikse dotted down after some brilliant backline play.
DR EG JANSEN 12 – 17 KEARSNEY COLLEGE
Kearsney College produced an impressive all-round performance to condemn Hoerskool EG Jansen to a 17-12 defeat, their first of the season.
The game was an evenly matched affair with the hosts taking a slender five-point lead into the break.
Dr EG Jansen’s driving maul caused all sorts of chaos in the second half, but Kearsney did well to repel them time and again, to finally come out on top.
GLENWOOD HIGH 19 – 7 DALE COLLEGE
Glenwood High’s well-structured approach was enough to see off Dale College in a 19-7 win.
Though Dale thrived in the loose, they were starved of opportunities by a disciplined Glenwood line-up. Still, the Eastern Cape boys defended manfully at times and did well to shut down a number of attacking chances from the Durbanites.
WORCESTER GIMNASIUM 15 – 30 HOER LANDBOUSKOOL MARLOW
A powerful display from Hoer Landbouskool Marlow earned them a comfortable 30-15 win over Worcester Gimnasium.
While Worcester’s ball-in-hand play was as electric as ever, their chances were few and far between and they battled to hang onto possession for any meaningful period of time.
Marlow played with bucket-loads of intensity from the get-go and it wasn’t long before Steyn Foley went over off the back of a powerful driving maul.
Worcester were struggling to match the physicality of the Cradock boys, and two Gideon Jordaan penalties extended Marlow’s lead to give them a 13-point buffer at the break.
HARTPURY COLLEGE (UK) 9 – 14 WESTVILLE BOYS’ HIGH
Westville Boys’ High beat Hartpury College 14-9 in a stop-start affair in the opening game of day two.
The execution of both outfits left a lot to be desired in the first half, but Westville got progressively better and were ultimately able to capitalise when it mattered despite some poor discipline.
Hartpury had their moments with ball in hand but lacked a cutting edge, struggling to break down a very physical Westville defence.
FESTIVAL FIXTURES:
Day 3 Monday 10 April
09:00 Worcester Gimnasium vs Glenwood High School
10:20 HoërLandbouskool Marlow vs Durban High School
11:40 Hoërskool Monument vs Dale College
13:00 Westville Boys’ High School vs Hoërskool Dr E G Jansen
14:20 HoërskoolFramesby vs Hoërskool Noord-Kaap
15:40 Kearsney College vs Hartpury College (UK)
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